Pursuing an `emergent' faith

Last month, Gartenberg took another unusual step: He and 15 other Jewish leaders met with evangelical Christians who set out on a similar path a decade ago and sparked a mini-revolution.

Representatives from nearly 30 Jewish and Christian worship groups talked about abandoning traditional worship in search of a more personal connection with God. They also shared their vision with more traditional Jewish leaders who hope this new "emergent Judaism" might help bring young Jews at least to some style of worship.

"We've got to learn from what our Christian colleagues are doing," said Shawn Landres

Evangelical Christians began to search for ways to meet those spiritual needs about 10 years ago, quitting mainstream churches to form worship groups that meet in coffee shops, warehouses and living rooms. They began calling themselves emergent Christians and now focus on "walking the path of Jesus" and doing humanitarian work while remaining apolitical.

Some conservative Jews, too, have criticized those who have split off from synagogues, saying they are ignoring thousands of years of religious tradition.

Still, some Jewish groups feel they have something to learn from the Christian movement, including how to feel comfortable speaking about personal faith in a public sphere.

Perhaps as all the Bishops go broke, and churchs and land and money is
given to older men who played with "father", God is pushing us to the streets
and tents for a reason. An urban ring of Catholics in the suburbs is an ugly
inbred thing.

It looks like we will be late comers there, after the Evangelicals and now
the Jews.